Educational Science

Surprisingly-bad acting is key to jumping spider's survival

Scientists have discovered the survival secret of a brightly colored spider that mimics ants to deter predators: the imperfection of its impressions. The tiny jumping spider Siler collingwoodi lifts its front legs to form mock antennae while swinging its legs and jiggling its abdomen to copy an ant's gait. Ants...

Invasive giant spider in US is actually 'shyest ever documented,' study finds

Giant, invasive Jorō spiders that are spreading throughout the southeastern United States could be the shyest ever documented, meaning they don't owe their success to aggression, a new study finds. Jorō spiders (Trichonephila clavata) first appeared in the U.S. in 2013, when they were accidentally brought across from eastern Asia...

Two new species of blind and colorless daddy longlegs spider have been discovered — one in the dry western region of Australia, and one on the lush tropical island of Réunion. Both of the species live in underground habitats, which likely led to their colorless bodies and blindness. And researchers...

Wolf spider mama wearing crown of babies captured in stunning photo

A stunning photograph has captured a wolf spider wearing a hat of her own babies in Maryland. The image, titled Wolf Spider Mama was named the winner of the insects and arachnids category of The Nature Conservancy's 2023 Global Photo Contest. The image, taken by photographer Benjamin Salb, shows a...

Horrifying photo captures moment parasitic fungus bursts from huge spider's body

A rare image has captured the moment a huge spider is defeated and engulfed by a parasitic fungus, with spores bursting from the arachnid's back, legs and head The striking photo is one of the winning images from the BMC Ecology and Evolution photography competition. The picture, taken by evolutionary...

Why do spiders have 8 legs?

There seems to be no ideal number of legs. Humans have two, dogs have four, insects have six and millipedes can have over 1,000. So what made spiders settle for eight legs? I think the best answer and the simplest answer is that spiders have eight legs because their parents...

What is the deadliest spider in the world?

Spiders are common critters. And, as almost all of Earth's 43,000 known spider species are venomous, it is likely that most people have encountered a venomous spider at one point or another. So that's the bad news. The good news, however, is that of these, only 25 species are known...

No, this spider's venom will not give you a permanent erection, but it might last a few hours

A supermarket in Austria was evacuated following reports of a spider whose bite can cause hours-long, painful erections. But media claims that the erections are permanent are not supported by science. The spider was discovered in a discount store in Krems an der Donau, 45 miles (72 kilometers) west of...

Black widows are being slaughtered by their brown widow cousins, and we don't know why

Black widow spiders in the U.S. are being killed off by an unexpected rival: their invasive relatives, but the motivation behind the highly aggressive attacks is not yet clear, a new study finds. The perpetrators, brown widow spiders (Latrodectus geometricus), likely originated in Africa or South America but have since...